GRAND RAPIDS – City planners were in the mood to let the good times roll downtown Thursday but squelched a request to open a dance club in a Southeast Side strip mall that was the scene of a homicide last November.

Representatives of the downtown brewery said the expansion will create more space for brewing but will not expand the taproom where beer is served. The requested expansion follows a larger expansion completed last summer.

Officer Shellie Weiss said the club and parking lot have developed a bad reputation as a hangout and gathering place for gang-related activity.

Marks, who wanted to open the “Soka Lounge,” told the planners she intended to avoid hip hop music that attracted gangs and cater to the African immigrant community with traditional African music. She said she eventually hoped to sell alcohol at the club.

But neighbors and police argued her plans or the ownership of they club could shift and bring back the hip hop crowd.

“Every time there's been a shooting at that site, our sales drop for a period of weeks,” said the owner of a nearby pizza restaurant.